Jump to content

  • Welcome to the eG Forums, a service of the eGullet Society for Culinary Arts & Letters. The Society is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of the culinary arts. These advertising-free forums are provided free of charge through donations from Society members. Anyone may read the forums, but to post you must create a free account.

Dine Out Vancouver - The Topic (2008-)

Dining Diva

By Dining Diva
in Western Canada: Dining

 Share

Recommended Posts

Dining Diva

Dining Diva

Posted
Posted

[Moderator note: The original Dine Out Vancouver - The Topic topic became too large for our servers to handle efficiently, so we've divided it up; the preceding part of this discussion is here: Dine Out Vancouver - The Topic (2002-2007)]

 

Is the new list of restaurants that are participating in Dine out Vancouver 2008 out yet? Any way to see any menus??? I'm DYING to see them!! :)

ddueck

ddueck

Posted
Posted

Did anyone join the facebook group for Dine Out 2008?

My workmate tells me that there are over 6000 people who have joined this face book group. Do you think that this will affect the attendance of Dine Out?

fud

fud

Posted
Posted

:blink:

Wow so the news of Mr. Feenie and Lumiere hasn't deterred the dineout crowd one bit. Lumier is sold out of tables for 4 (at least) already!

"There are two things every chef needs in the kitchen: fish sauce and duck fat" - Tony Minichiello

run2eat

run2eat

Posted
Posted

I booked at Raincity Grill for DOV-08. Their menu looks delish! It may be our only DOV meal this year thanks to a busy schedule and tight budget.

I booked online and noted a first - they needed my credit card # to secure the booking. I have no problem with this, but I am annoyed that this booking policy (nor cancellation policy) isn't mentioned anywhere (at least, I couldn't find a statement on Tourism Vancouver's DOV page, OpenTable.com, nor Raincity Grill's website).

I'm curious, are other restaurants requiring CC #s for booking this year?

chocomoo

chocomoo

Posted
Posted

I'm trying to choose between Ocean Six Seventeen, Marmalade & Abigail's Party. Marmalade's menu looks interesting (one of the desserts is "Lotus Flower Filo Dessert with Orange Creme Anglaise, Lychee & Mandarins, topped with Candied Orange Peel" & there's venison on the menu too :wub: ), but I don't know anything about them.

I should mention that it'll probably be a largish group of people (maybe 8-10?).

Which place should I go for?

Chef Rotherham

Chef Rotherham

Posted
Posted
I booked at Raincity Grill for DOV-08. Their menu looks delish! It may be our only DOV meal this year thanks to a busy schedule and tight budget.

I booked online and noted a first - they needed my credit card # to secure the booking. I have no problem with this, but I am annoyed that this booking policy (nor cancellation policy) isn't mentioned anywhere (at least, I couldn't find a statement on  Tourism Vancouver's DOV page, OpenTable.com, nor Raincity Grill's website).

I'm curious, are other restaurants requiring CC #s for booking this year?

I know they were discussing this last year, as during Dine Out Vancouver, the no show rate is ridiculous. It was suggest as a way to prevent people from booking multiple restaurants at the same time, which for some reason many people do.

Alex Rotherham

Executive Chef

Darby's Pub

Dining Diva

Dining Diva

Posted
  • Topic Starter
Posted

I booked through Opentable.com at both Chambar and C Restaurant and wasn't asked for my CC #. I wouldn't have had any issue with providing one if asked though.... especially since I've heard, as Chef Rotherham stated above, that the no-show rate is unbelievably bad.

fud

fud

Posted
Posted

That blows my mind. People actually book like 10 places and only show up to like 3 or 4 so they can have places "reserved" in case they want to go. This explains why Lumiere and C were booked up so quick. I guess in a strangely comforting way maybe we can snap up a cancellation (if they were polite enough to at least call to cancel).

We're signed up for Lift and La Terazza mmm.

"There are two things every chef needs in the kitchen: fish sauce and duck fat" - Tony Minichiello

Chef Fowke

Chef Fowke

Posted
Posted

Dine out really is an iconic event for Vancouver. I am pleased to see that Rare is 95% sold out and Metro is over 60% sold out. (We are going to have to offer a simular menu for the couple of weeks before and after the event to meet the demand)

Somehow it slipped when we wrote the menu for Metro that Dine Out Vancouver was in the dead of winter. We have had to make a few 'seasonal' changes to the menu. The Metro Dine Out Vancouver Menu v1.20 is posted at Chef Fowke dot COM and will be updated with the Metro Dine Out Vancouver Menu v1.25 early this week.

With that said, I am glad to see that over 30% of the menus this year really represent a seasonal Vancouver Menu. A huge increase over last year.

Brian.

Chef/Owner/Teacher

Website: Chef Fowke dot com

eatbc

eatbc

Posted
Posted
That blows my mind.  People actually book like 10 places and only show up to like 3 or 4  so they can have places "reserved" in case they want to go.  This explains why Lumiere and C were booked up so quick.  I guess in a strangely comforting way maybe we can snap up a cancellation (if they were polite enough to at least call to cancel).

These types of people are never "polite enough to at least call to cancel".

They don't consider for a moment that this will not only screw the restaurant, but the other diners, cherished regulars, concierge and vips that couldn't get in.

We phone all our bookings the day before to confirm. We had a very low no-show rate, but...

This is my first year on the Opentable system and I'm a little nervous. (we're pretty much sold-out) You could always tell on the phone, because the people who want 6:30pm but take a 10pm booking will cancel or no-show, so we could flag those ones, or just talk them out of it.

Mark Taylor

Cru Vancouver

Caffe Dolcetto

truenic

truenic

Posted
Posted

I agree with others here-I have no problem supplying a CC# beacuse I never pull a no-show. I can't imagine how frustrating these no-shows must be for Dine Out Restaurants.

Booked for Parkside (score!), Maurya and FigMint (nice!).

Looking forward to it!

Truc

Truc

Posted
Posted

I just want to let you guys know (after calling them) that raincity will only charge your credit card if you are a no show or give less than 24 hours notice (really late notice). They said something like $25 or so. Which is fair because if it is easy enough for one to book 10 places at once and hog tables, it's just as easy to cancel a booking on opentable. :blink: All i know is I got my tables booked and i intend to show up for sure lol.

The Wandering Cook
run2eat

run2eat

Posted
Posted

I fully support the practice of restaurants wanting a guarantee given the prevalence of the book-and-no-show crowd, but I'd like to see disclosure of cancellation policies somewhere (without having to call the restaurant to find out).

That said, I'm really looking forward to my Raincity dinner! Yum!!! My husband is swooning over the leek and parsnip combo (his two favourite foods!) in the salmon main :)

KarenDW

KarenDW

Posted
Posted
(without having to call the restaurant to find out)

But wouldn't one need to call to make the reso in the first place?

While Open Table enables us, at any time of day or night, to try and reserve a table, there are times (most) when I would prefer to speak with a human host. A professional host will be knowledgeable about restaurant policies, and would then be able to advise of the cancellation policy.

Perhaps OT could include something on it's reservation page?

Karen Dar Woon

Knightafter

Knightafter

Posted
Posted

I'm with Karen on that , I always call restaurants for resos , you can ask any question you want and also get a good feel about the place .

the other tony

the other tony

Posted
Posted

I am booked for Metro on Thursday night and I will be there! I haven't been to any of Chef Fowke's places yet- I know, I have been living under a rock- and am looking forward to it...

Anthony Nicalo

Farmstead Wines

www.farmsteadwines.com

eatbc

eatbc

Posted
Posted

Didn't call in time to get in to your favourite restaurant?

As we are confirming reservations for the following day, there have been some cancellations (most of them were booked on Jan 2!)

So, ....

I recommend calling the evening before you want to come.

Some space may have opened up at prime seating times

Mark Taylor

Cru Vancouver

Caffe Dolcetto

CanadianBakin'

CanadianBakin'

Posted
Posted
Didn't call in time to get in to your favourite restaurant?

As we are confirming reservations for the following day, there have been some cancellations (most of them were booked on Jan 2!)

So, ....

I recommend calling the evening before you want to come.

Some space may have opened up at prime seating times

Thanks for the tip. Was hoping to reserve at Parkside at the end of January but didn't realize it was going to be Dine Out and of course they're booked.

Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Orison Swett Marden

maxmillan

maxmillan

Posted
Posted

The restaurants I wanted are fully booked so I'm thinking of trying Dine Out at a hotel restaurant.

I plan to check out the restaurant at the Hilton in Metrotown. Can anyone recommend another hotel restaurant, especially one that you've tried last year?

the other tony

the other tony

Posted
Posted

I DOV at Metro on Thursday night with my wife and her parents. Among us, we tried all of the dishes. The duck on the land dish was perhaps slightly undercooked and the halibut on the sea dish was perhaps slightly over. That being said, the food was spectacular relative to my dine out expectations. We had a bottle of tempranillo which was probably not the perfect match for everyone's meals, but in my mind better value/ quality than the required VQA offerings. I had a look at the regular menu and also liked the order by the ounce concept at Metro and will definitely go back. The only real complaint is the horrible music. Remember when boutique hotels where all the rage in the late 90s and they played loud trying too hard to be cool music in the lobby? Metro is not one of the "resto-lounges" that Vancouver apparently can't get enough of, at least I don't think they are trying to be...

Anthony Nicalo

Farmstead Wines

www.farmsteadwines.com

wildebeest

wildebeest

Posted
Posted

I wonder how hard it is for restuarants to meet the music needs of a wide demograph of people, especially during DOV when all ages come out. Seems like it would be a bigger challenge than preparing and presenting food.

I am hoping to try a few restaurants for DOV and want to get into Yew if there is still room available. I usually don't go to hotels to eat but I have heard good things about this restuarant. Anyone been there for DOV yet?

truenic

truenic

Posted
Posted

Went to Parkside for DOV last Friday and was suitably impressed.

Started with the Endive Salad with wild mushrooms-portion-size was perfect and it's tough for me to go wrong with wild mushrooms.

I had the cod which was undoubtedly the best cod dish I had ever had. Not to be confused with the best cod I had ever had but the mix of flavours in the dish itself was sublime. The trio of chocolate ice creams was great-the dark one was almost like eating half-frozen fudge-yummy!

I would go back in a heartbeat.

The staff were attentive without hovering and we never felt pressured to hurry up and finish our meals. We'll definitly go back.

Thanks Parkside!

 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...